Alfredo: Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king's daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king? Well, finally, one day, he managed to meet her, and he told her that he could no longer live without her. The princess was so impressed by his strong feelings that she said to the soldier: "If you can wait 100 days and 100 nights under my balcony, then at the end of it, I shall be yours." Damn! The soldier immediately went there and waited one day. And two days. And ten. And then twenty. And every evening, the princess looked out of her window, but he never moved. During rain, during wind, during snow, he was always there. The bird shat on his head, and the bees stung him, but he didn't budge. After ninety nights, he had become all dried up, all white, and the tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn't hold them back. He no longer had the strength to sleep. All that time, the princess watched him. And on the 99th night, the soldier stood up, took his chair, and went away.
Salvatore: [later in the film, Toto gives Alfredo his interpretation] ... In one more night, the princess would have been his. But she also could not possibly have kept her promise. And it would have been terrible. He would have died. This way, however, at least for 99 days, he was living under the illusion that she was there, waiting for him.
--------------------------------------------
Alfredo: Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
唐山大地震
And finally, I managed to catch the movie 唐山大地震 after such a long time, many thanks to 2 of my church buddies who are so nice to watch with me and not pangseh me because of my difficult schedule.
It wasn't as epic as I thought it'd be. Though i knew the movie wasn't entirely about the earthquake, the earthquake scene barely lasted 10-15 minutes. And nope, I didn't shed a tear, though at certain points in time I felt really moved. The one thing I probably took away from the movie, besides the themes of reconciliation and restoration of relationships, moving on with life, etc., is that one will never understand the agony and despair one experiences in the face of a disaster, be it natural (earthquakes, floods, etc. which all seem to be happening rather frequently now) or human (loss of a loved one, miscarriage, cancer, etc.) The feelings that are evoked in me when I watch the earthquake scene are probably a billionth of what real people feel when confronted with real catastrophes. I really wonder how much 'comfort' we actually bring to family members, relatives or friends who are suffering when we visit them at home or in hospital. I often can't find the right words to say. Maybe not saying too much is best. I can only thank God and count my blessings, and pray for them.
On a side note, 1st day in KKH was not bad. I performed my first-ever PAP Smear! and saw patients with a variety of problems. It seems that no matter what the presenting complaint is, anxiety, ranging from a tinge to 'to-the-max' level, is the common denominator. I guess patients should be feel blessed if they have a doctor who is good at allaying their fears, because not all doctors are equally 'proficient' at that, bearing in mind that doctors, too, are humans.
And Federer finally won a title after 7 months. 63rd career title. Tho I'd have appreciated it a lot more if he wrapped up the match in a much shorter time than the 2+ hours he took so that I could have slept earlier.
"没了，才知道啥叫没了" - 元妮，《唐山大地震》
It wasn't as epic as I thought it'd be. Though i knew the movie wasn't entirely about the earthquake, the earthquake scene barely lasted 10-15 minutes. And nope, I didn't shed a tear, though at certain points in time I felt really moved. The one thing I probably took away from the movie, besides the themes of reconciliation and restoration of relationships, moving on with life, etc., is that one will never understand the agony and despair one experiences in the face of a disaster, be it natural (earthquakes, floods, etc. which all seem to be happening rather frequently now) or human (loss of a loved one, miscarriage, cancer, etc.) The feelings that are evoked in me when I watch the earthquake scene are probably a billionth of what real people feel when confronted with real catastrophes. I really wonder how much 'comfort' we actually bring to family members, relatives or friends who are suffering when we visit them at home or in hospital. I often can't find the right words to say. Maybe not saying too much is best. I can only thank God and count my blessings, and pray for them.
On a side note, 1st day in KKH was not bad. I performed my first-ever PAP Smear! and saw patients with a variety of problems. It seems that no matter what the presenting complaint is, anxiety, ranging from a tinge to 'to-the-max' level, is the common denominator. I guess patients should be feel blessed if they have a doctor who is good at allaying their fears, because not all doctors are equally 'proficient' at that, bearing in mind that doctors, too, are humans.
And Federer finally won a title after 7 months. 63rd career title. Tho I'd have appreciated it a lot more if he wrapped up the match in a much shorter time than the 2+ hours he took so that I could have slept earlier.
"没了，才知道啥叫没了" - 元妮，《唐山大地震》
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Square Root of Three
And alas, the Taiwan trip has come to an end. It has been an interesting trip in many senses of the word. But one of the most memorable things was ironically watching Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay 1.5 times. With it, the beautiful poem:
The Square Root of Three
I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three
The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine
For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic
I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality
When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three
As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer
We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands
Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed
------------------------------------------------------------
Lovely.
The Square Root of Three
I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three
The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine
For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic
I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality
When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three
As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer
We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands
Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed
------------------------------------------------------------
Lovely.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Board
"The Board is a dramatic film that explores the inside story of a human soul, represented by a board of directors comprised of six members. One by one the power brokers of the soul, including Mind, Memory, Emotion, Heart, Will, and Conscience, discuss and vote on seemingly mundane events, until a co-worker poses a dilemma with eternal consequences. Facing a powerful indictment, the board's hypocritical self-defense is exposed, as it wrestles with the ultimate decision every person must make."
The decision is a matter of the Heart.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Why does my heart cry?
And we were talking about this on our way back to the library from dinner, how emotionally-charged this song is, and how Ewan McGregor brings out the emotions so well. Love the strings too.
We should watch Moulin Rouge together again some day. (:
We should watch Moulin Rouge together again some day. (:
Thursday, October 15, 2009
My solo movie experience
Nowadays, it'd seem that the only time I'm available (not technically, well, but.. :P) to catch a movie, is when I'm on call that night. Probably because I'd reason that I'd be working through the night (technically, but well.. :P), I deserve a break in the afternoon since I'm still a student. Afterall, there is only a certain period of time when you're officially a student ('tho we are life-long learners), and there are things that you can only do while you are a student.
Anyway, the previous time I watched a movie alone was quite some years back. It was Shanghai Knights. For some reason, I think I wanted to watch it quite badly, and my friends have already watched it, so I decided to watch it alone. (Maybe because it featured Fann Wong - afterall, you don't often see a local actor/actress make it to Hollywood back then. Now as well.) Maybe I was young and impressionable then, or maybe I just couldn't decipher tones of speech, but I don't remember experiencing what I experienced yesterday.
Me: Can I have a ticket to (500) days of summmer?
*I remembered that being Wednesday, I'm entitled to student discount. Hence I flashed my student EZ-link*
Receptionist at Box-Office (Henceforth known as R): I'd need 2 student passes.
Me: I only need 1 ticket.
R: Oh. So 1 student ticket and 1 normal ticket>
Me: No, ONE ticket would be enough.
R: Huh? Oh I'm sorry..
Me: It's alright. *And I gave her my classic smiley face*
Come on, what's wrong with watching a movie alone? No doubt, movies seem to be the most prevalent social event, whether for couples or for groups. (Correct me if I'm wrong) But sometimes, it's hard to find company, or find time when your company can make it, or find company who want to watch it (with you or otherwise), or find company who hasn't watched that movie. And I don't really wanna wait for the DVD, especially when I'm not sure whether I want to invest $20+ in a DVD instead of $6 for a student ticket.
So maybe in future, box-office receptionists should learn to conceal their expressions of disbelief when someone purchases a single ticket. (:
Anyway, (500) days of summer was not too bad for a movie. Could vaguely draw some parallels between the character and me. Well, in case there are people who read this and haven't watched it and are keen to watch it, shan't have any spoiler alerts. But a theme that struck me was reconciling expectations and reality. Very often, in relationships or otherwise, we have expectations of others, we think we can expect or predict how they would think or respond. But in reality, we probably can't.
Sometimes we expect people, who are of adult age and adult mentality (these 2 don't necessarily coexist, a pity to say) to know what they want in life. Maybe some people do know what they want, which is they don't want anything at that point in time. You can't fault them for it. Knowing that you don't want anything counts as knowing what you want i guess. Till then, there's really nothing much you can do about it, is there?
And probably, for me personally, where the line for friends and someone special is really quite distinctly drawn, a quote in the movie made me realise "You can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event." Because for the millions out there, perhaps the line for normal friends and someone special isn't that far apart. Not that it's wrong. It's just my personal take on things. Being the oddball, I should attempt to understand the norms of how people interact, even though I may not subscribe to it. That would probably save me a lot of interpretative errors.
Not that I want to be anal about drawing clear lines. But for me, clarity trumps ambiguity. Anytime. It may be really cruel, even for both parties, but I would think that its protective effect would reap more benefits in future.
"And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide
But I love you, I love you, until the end of time.
~Come What May, Moulin Rouge
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You ought'a know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love.
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you.
~ Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You
I think we (or at least I) are a sucker for these songs which promise loads. Until the end of time? I remember what my pastor mentioned about many people: 说就天下无敌，做就无能为力. Indeed the future may really be unpredictable, and really not in our control. Does that devalue the promises that we make? I don't think so, because the promise is a commitment, to signify that yes, the future may be unpredictable, but come what may, I will walk through it with you. So till then, I'll still be a sucker for these songs.
Thank God for His Word and Love, the only things which never change. (:
Anyway, the previous time I watched a movie alone was quite some years back. It was Shanghai Knights. For some reason, I think I wanted to watch it quite badly, and my friends have already watched it, so I decided to watch it alone. (Maybe because it featured Fann Wong - afterall, you don't often see a local actor/actress make it to Hollywood back then. Now as well.) Maybe I was young and impressionable then, or maybe I just couldn't decipher tones of speech, but I don't remember experiencing what I experienced yesterday.
Me: Can I have a ticket to (500) days of summmer?
*I remembered that being Wednesday, I'm entitled to student discount. Hence I flashed my student EZ-link*
Receptionist at Box-Office (Henceforth known as R): I'd need 2 student passes.
Me: I only need 1 ticket.
R: Oh. So 1 student ticket and 1 normal ticket>
Me: No, ONE ticket would be enough.
R: Huh? Oh I'm sorry..
Me: It's alright. *And I gave her my classic smiley face*
Come on, what's wrong with watching a movie alone? No doubt, movies seem to be the most prevalent social event, whether for couples or for groups. (Correct me if I'm wrong) But sometimes, it's hard to find company, or find time when your company can make it, or find company who want to watch it (with you or otherwise), or find company who hasn't watched that movie. And I don't really wanna wait for the DVD, especially when I'm not sure whether I want to invest $20+ in a DVD instead of $6 for a student ticket.
So maybe in future, box-office receptionists should learn to conceal their expressions of disbelief when someone purchases a single ticket. (:
Anyway, (500) days of summer was not too bad for a movie. Could vaguely draw some parallels between the character and me. Well, in case there are people who read this and haven't watched it and are keen to watch it, shan't have any spoiler alerts. But a theme that struck me was reconciling expectations and reality. Very often, in relationships or otherwise, we have expectations of others, we think we can expect or predict how they would think or respond. But in reality, we probably can't.
Sometimes we expect people, who are of adult age and adult mentality (these 2 don't necessarily coexist, a pity to say) to know what they want in life. Maybe some people do know what they want, which is they don't want anything at that point in time. You can't fault them for it. Knowing that you don't want anything counts as knowing what you want i guess. Till then, there's really nothing much you can do about it, is there?
And probably, for me personally, where the line for friends and someone special is really quite distinctly drawn, a quote in the movie made me realise "You can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event." Because for the millions out there, perhaps the line for normal friends and someone special isn't that far apart. Not that it's wrong. It's just my personal take on things. Being the oddball, I should attempt to understand the norms of how people interact, even though I may not subscribe to it. That would probably save me a lot of interpretative errors.
Not that I want to be anal about drawing clear lines. But for me, clarity trumps ambiguity. Anytime. It may be really cruel, even for both parties, but I would think that its protective effect would reap more benefits in future.
"And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide
But I love you, I love you, until the end of time.
~Come What May, Moulin Rouge
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You ought'a know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love.
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you.
~ Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You
I think we (or at least I) are a sucker for these songs which promise loads. Until the end of time? I remember what my pastor mentioned about many people: 说就天下无敌，做就无能为力. Indeed the future may really be unpredictable, and really not in our control. Does that devalue the promises that we make? I don't think so, because the promise is a commitment, to signify that yes, the future may be unpredictable, but come what may, I will walk through it with you. So till then, I'll still be a sucker for these songs.
Thank God for His Word and Love, the only things which never change. (:
Friday, August 28, 2009
Fiat Justitia et Pereat Mundus
The holidays are really, really too short. Or are they? Which sorta begs the question - Is 'short', in terms of length, an absolute term or a relative term? 7 days. Compared to the 3 months of holidays that other uni students have, it's probably as short as it can ever get. However, from another perspective, these 7 days of holidays are the same 7 days that all my other 250+ classmates have. Therefore, are my holidays short? What is the reference/standard used for comparison?
Was watching this movie called 'Come What May'. No, it's not a sequel of Moulin Rouge, though I personally love the movie AND the song. The synopsis from IMDB:
"Caleb and Rachel team up to lead the Patrick Henry College team in the intense world of collegiate moot court competition. Caleb looks to date Rachel, but she's waiting for courtship. Meanwhile, Caleb becomes caught in a moral tug-of-war between his parents - a newly Christian father and a feminist attorney mother. Caleb's mom goes before the U.S. Supreme Court defending abortion, even as Caleb simultaneously takes on the opposing legal argument at the national moot court championship."
At the heart of this movie are several themes:
1. Truth and Belief - Absolutism and Relativism
"People believe what they choose to, but you need to believe the truth. What you believe determines what you do." - Don Hogan (The Christian father)
" See.. when somebody tells you something is 'morally wrong', watch out. There's always a sliding scale. Even stealing, well, what if you're starving? Some people are so sure that there's black and white. There's always a grey area, they just won't admit it." - Judith Hogan (The attorney mother)
"While you and I do have different views and opinions, should that really matter as long as we respect each other?" - Judith Hogan
In this day and age, it'd seem that there are many Judith Hogans speaking to us. With God's unchanging and absolute character, comes His unchanging morals and values for us. Some detractors may say that while God said "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour" (Ex 20:16), Rahab was commended for her faith in God (Heb 11:31) despite lying to save the lives of the 2 spies (Jos 2). Would that have been double-standards? But we should bear in mind that Rahab saved 2 lives by doing what she did, and that would have been upholding a higher principle. Although we must not easily compromise on laws and principles, let us not go down the path of being overtly-legalistic either. At the end of the day, I think we have to go back to the Word to discern the heart of God so that we will act in a way pleasing to Him.
Especially in our multi-religious society, where religion appears to remain still a touchy and sensitive issue, is it really true that respect is all that matters and that differing beliefs don't matter? No doubt, we should and must respect others for they too are created in the image of God, but we shouldn't go down the path of thinking that "all beliefs are good and well as long as they do not harm others", etc. This doesn't mean that we go around denouncing others' beliefs, picking fights and inciting riots, but to engage others peacefully with respect.
Patrick Henry College's founder, Dr. Michael Farris (also a US constitutional lawyer and Baptist minister) says this in the movie, "Here, we have confidence in reason, because we have confidence in God."
2. On Abortion
At the centre of this movie is the question of "When does life really begin?" Roe v. Wade is mentioned extensively, a landmark case in the US which upheld that that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes 'viable'", where 'viability' is defined as the potential "to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid".
There's this exchange between Caleb and Don, his father:
Caleb: "The issue is, how do you know when does a baby's life begins?"
Don: "That's not a biology question, you know. Biology has nothing to do with it, in fact it's so simple that a 10 year old can understand it. Just pick a time when you know the baby's alive."
Caleb: "The day he's born."
Don: "Alright, what about the day before that? Is the baby alive the day before that?"
Caleb: "Of course."
Don: "And how about the day before that?"
Caleb: "Sure."
Don: "There you have it. Life doesn't begin incrementally. It's not like the baby was anymore alive today than it was the day before. It's radical, it's an event, and it only happens once in a human's existence."
Caleb: "At conception."
Don: "No other explanation makes sense. And it's so simple, anyone can understand it."
Caleb: "But why don't they get it?"
Don: "It's not that the people don't get it, they don't wanna hear it."
At the end of the movie, during the moot court finals, Caleb argues against Roe v. Wade, "They tear the baby out of its only means of life support, and say 'Wow, look at that, our machines can't sustain it's life,' and somehow, that proves it's not viable!"
Something for all of us to think about.
3. Fiat Justitia et Pereat Mundus
The literal translation would be "Let there be justice, though the world perish." In the movie, it's interpreted to mean, "Do the right thing, come what may."
Dr. Michael Farris says this, "Moot court becomes real court before you know it. Winning Moot court is great, for the moment, but living by Christian principles, living by God's righteousness, that will guide your whole life."
4. Commitment
Don: "Say you lend a guy 10,000 bucks. What are you gonna want from him?"
Caleb: "Well I'd want him to pay it back."
Don: "Would you lend it to him if he wouldn't commit to that? If Rachel gives you her trust, if she puts herself in your hands, she wants a commitment that you're not gonna break her heart."
There are other themes on family, work, etc. But I think it'll be better for each of us to explore them ourselves (Actually, more like this post is getting horrendously lengthy.)
In summary, I think the movie's a good watch. The DVD's not mine though. If and when I get my hands on it, you can borrow from me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really think blogging takes a lot of time.
Was watching this movie called 'Come What May'. No, it's not a sequel of Moulin Rouge, though I personally love the movie AND the song. The synopsis from IMDB:
"Caleb and Rachel team up to lead the Patrick Henry College team in the intense world of collegiate moot court competition. Caleb looks to date Rachel, but she's waiting for courtship. Meanwhile, Caleb becomes caught in a moral tug-of-war between his parents - a newly Christian father and a feminist attorney mother. Caleb's mom goes before the U.S. Supreme Court defending abortion, even as Caleb simultaneously takes on the opposing legal argument at the national moot court championship."
At the heart of this movie are several themes:
1. Truth and Belief - Absolutism and Relativism
"People believe what they choose to, but you need to believe the truth. What you believe determines what you do." - Don Hogan (The Christian father)
" See.. when somebody tells you something is 'morally wrong', watch out. There's always a sliding scale. Even stealing, well, what if you're starving? Some people are so sure that there's black and white. There's always a grey area, they just won't admit it." - Judith Hogan (The attorney mother)
"While you and I do have different views and opinions, should that really matter as long as we respect each other?" - Judith Hogan
In this day and age, it'd seem that there are many Judith Hogans speaking to us. With God's unchanging and absolute character, comes His unchanging morals and values for us. Some detractors may say that while God said "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour" (Ex 20:16), Rahab was commended for her faith in God (Heb 11:31) despite lying to save the lives of the 2 spies (Jos 2). Would that have been double-standards? But we should bear in mind that Rahab saved 2 lives by doing what she did, and that would have been upholding a higher principle. Although we must not easily compromise on laws and principles, let us not go down the path of being overtly-legalistic either. At the end of the day, I think we have to go back to the Word to discern the heart of God so that we will act in a way pleasing to Him.
Especially in our multi-religious society, where religion appears to remain still a touchy and sensitive issue, is it really true that respect is all that matters and that differing beliefs don't matter? No doubt, we should and must respect others for they too are created in the image of God, but we shouldn't go down the path of thinking that "all beliefs are good and well as long as they do not harm others", etc. This doesn't mean that we go around denouncing others' beliefs, picking fights and inciting riots, but to engage others peacefully with respect.
Patrick Henry College's founder, Dr. Michael Farris (also a US constitutional lawyer and Baptist minister) says this in the movie, "Here, we have confidence in reason, because we have confidence in God."
2. On Abortion
At the centre of this movie is the question of "When does life really begin?" Roe v. Wade is mentioned extensively, a landmark case in the US which upheld that that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes 'viable'", where 'viability' is defined as the potential "to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid".
There's this exchange between Caleb and Don, his father:
Caleb: "The issue is, how do you know when does a baby's life begins?"
Don: "That's not a biology question, you know. Biology has nothing to do with it, in fact it's so simple that a 10 year old can understand it. Just pick a time when you know the baby's alive."
Caleb: "The day he's born."
Don: "Alright, what about the day before that? Is the baby alive the day before that?"
Caleb: "Of course."
Don: "And how about the day before that?"
Caleb: "Sure."
Don: "There you have it. Life doesn't begin incrementally. It's not like the baby was anymore alive today than it was the day before. It's radical, it's an event, and it only happens once in a human's existence."
Caleb: "At conception."
Don: "No other explanation makes sense. And it's so simple, anyone can understand it."
Caleb: "But why don't they get it?"
Don: "It's not that the people don't get it, they don't wanna hear it."
At the end of the movie, during the moot court finals, Caleb argues against Roe v. Wade, "They tear the baby out of its only means of life support, and say 'Wow, look at that, our machines can't sustain it's life,' and somehow, that proves it's not viable!"
Something for all of us to think about.
3. Fiat Justitia et Pereat Mundus
The literal translation would be "Let there be justice, though the world perish." In the movie, it's interpreted to mean, "Do the right thing, come what may."
Dr. Michael Farris says this, "Moot court becomes real court before you know it. Winning Moot court is great, for the moment, but living by Christian principles, living by God's righteousness, that will guide your whole life."
4. Commitment
Don: "Say you lend a guy 10,000 bucks. What are you gonna want from him?"
Caleb: "Well I'd want him to pay it back."
Don: "Would you lend it to him if he wouldn't commit to that? If Rachel gives you her trust, if she puts herself in your hands, she wants a commitment that you're not gonna break her heart."
There are other themes on family, work, etc. But I think it'll be better for each of us to explore them ourselves (Actually, more like this post is getting horrendously lengthy.)
In summary, I think the movie's a good watch. The DVD's not mine though. If and when I get my hands on it, you can borrow from me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really think blogging takes a lot of time.
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